I relished debating seminarians while I majored in Philosophy just for the sport. And you are so right; debates are intimately emotional endeavors. My atheism is expressed professionally now although not overtly. As a therapist, I am a proponent of self-efficacy and being an active agent in any given moment. I never espouse atheism to my clients but I do challenge medicating their anxiety and depression with magical thinking or substances of any kind for that matter. I find it mentally liberating not to fixate on those things outside of our control and that each day can have moments of joy despite the adversities many people face without religious beliefs. Being fully dependent on the mercy and intervention of some metaphysical being precludes our full self empowerment.